


Project Theta

by briqhtliqhts



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn, powers au, super slow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 14:42:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16578470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/briqhtliqhts/pseuds/briqhtliqhts
Summary: There was a steady pulse of life throughout the facility. Machines powering on one by one after years of disuse and abandonment; the sound of shoes squeaking on old flooring. There was a lot of work to do: walls to fix; experimentation rooms to build; machines to replace and upgrade. But at it’s very core, it was a usable space. The government had abandoned the building long ago after mass information leak about the experiments that were previously ran there. As a result, the building had been closed down and the government had removed any and all connections that it had to the experimentation that had previously went on in the now-abandoned facility.The little boy looked confused, apprehensive even, but rather than question, rather than ask why he was there, he simply nodded. She’d been right in thinking that mentioning his mom would get the boy to agree to anything. He was so easy to read, so easy to predict what he was going to do, say and what he was going to react the strongest to.





	Project Theta

There was a steady pulse of life throughout the facility. Machines powering on one by one after years of disuse and abandonment; the sound of shoes squeaking on old flooring. There was a lot of work to do: walls to fix; experimentation rooms to build; machines to replace and upgrade. But at it’s very core, it was a usable space. The government had abandoned the building long ago after mass information leak about the experiments that were previously ran there. As a result, the building had been closed down and the government had removed any and all connections that it had to the experimentation that had previously went on in the now-abandoned facility.

It was now 1960 and the beginning of a new era. With labs being set up in California, Indiana, Washington and Texas, there was too much to find in too little a span of time. If they were to get ahead and make any sort of ground breaking discovery then they were going to have to get to work as soon as possible.

“Do we have our first subject?”

“We’re still searching. Working within the parameters is one thing but given that the only geographical specification you’ve given us is the entirety of the state? Well... there’s a lot for us to work through to find a child that would be beneficial to the experiments.”

The doctor reached out, touching the slow-warming generator as the lights flickered around them, powering up after years of disuse. It was just the beginning. Once they had their first subject then it would be easy to find others like them, to create an algorithm that would help them in finding those which had the potential to be more than the common man.

“Martin Brenner will not lead this investigation, Captain. You have six months. Find me a child.”

 

**_September 21st, 1971_ **

 

“-Kid? Can you hear me?”

The young boy slowly blinked himself back into consciousness, ocean blue eyes searching around the wreckage of the car. What had happened? One minute he’d been talking to Momma and in the next everything was dark. There’d been a bang. A scream? Like those ones that he sometimes heard on those scary shows that his dad sometimes watched when he was supposed to be in bed. One time his mom had caught him after he’d woken up and plodded his way to the source of the sound, watching the bright screen through the railings of the stairs. He’d just wanted to see what was happening, the screams had woken him up and he just wanted to see.

Wait.

Mom.

Where was mom?

“Momma?”

Suddenly he couldn’t stop moving, wriggling and writhing in the tight space of the car. Why was he upside down? Where was mom? He had to find his mom. She’d be mad if he got lost or had left her alone - like that time at the park where he had just went to the bigger playground where there were bigger slides and better climbing frames. He’d been in trouble for _ages_ when that happened. Momma had sent him straight to bed because he’d been bad. Dad had been more angry than her and he was really scary when he was angry.

“Hey, sweetheart, it’s okay.”

Arms wrapped around him and lifted him from the car. He had to blink a couple of times, though, he had those weird dark spots in his eyes that sometimes happened when he rubbed his eyes a lot when he was tired, or when he was in the shower and too much water got in his eyes. Despite his young age, the boy immediately knew that it wasn’t his mom. His ears were ringing a little bit but that wasn’t his mom’s voice and she was always way more gentle. The boy thought it was because his dad was so mad all the time. He was so angry and scary sometimes that his mom had to be that way. She was always happy and gentle and different to his dad.

The black spots were still in his eyes but the panic had taken over and he started to wriggle. He was going to be yelled at, he was always yelled at when he wriggled, but Momma had told him not to talk to strangers or to go with them. He had to go find Momma, or dad. If he could find dad then he could find Momma and then he wouldn’t get in trouble. Dad would be mad for a little while but he’d be proud that he didn’t talk to strangers and looked for him. He had to be. Momma always said that they’d be proud when he did the right thing.

“I need to find Momma. Let me go.”

Rather than being let go, though, the stranger started to hold on tighter, trying to stop his wriggling. They were trying to stop him from finding Momma. Why would they do that? That wasn’t fair. He wriggled harder, flailing his arms and legs, almost falling out of the woman’s hold.

Eventually he was put down on the floor, his legs a little shaky but he was ready to run away and find his mom. There were hands on his arms, stopping him from running away.

“Sweetheart- Hey- Okay. Take a moment, just wait okay?”

He turned, his eyes finally looking at the woman that had a hold of him. She was a firefighter which meant that he wasn’t going to be in trouble. You could trust people like that Momma said. Dad would understand why he didn’t run away, right?

“What’s your name?”

“Billy. Where’s my mom?”

“Alright Billy… Well… You and your mom were in an accident. You know that right?”

He nodded, still confused by what was happening and still itching to find his mom.

“Well you mom… she got hurt. In the accident. So I’m going to take care of you whilst my friends get your mom out of the car and to a doctor okay? As long as you stay with me then you’re going to be okay. We can call your dad and he can meet us at the hospital okay?”

“Is she going to be okay?”

There was a moment of silence. The woman was just looking at him and not saying anything. That was a good thing right? Like he was asking such a stupid question because of course she was going to be alright. Momma was always alright and she didn’t get hurt because of Billy. That would just be stupid.

“I’m sure she’s going to be fine. But you just stay by me for now, okay?”

 

**_March 29th, 1972_ **

 

“Tell me again.”

“His mother died in a car crash last September. He came out of the car unscathed. No injuries reported, fully conscious and cognitive at the scene. Had a check up by a team when they got to the hospital but he was never admitted. Given the wreckage and the fact that his mother died the fact that the child survived suggests enhanced healing capabilities however we’re unsure of the cause. Currently at… 52 hours in the facility, no missing persons report has been filed which means that our assumptions were correct about his father being disinterested in his child.”

“We can’t afford any more failures, Captain. I hope you’ve brought me someone suitable.”

There was a quiet sound as  the flimsy paper file shut, the word THETA emblazoned in the top right hand corner in thick marker lines. They had gone fifty two hours without a word of a missing child from the California area, no amber alert. That meant that they had less than forty eight hours left before someone became suspicious. The trials would have to start soon. Once the boy was marked, catalogued, then they could begin - attempting to activate the area of his brain that allowed the stimulated healing to occur. There had been news of the ‘special’ kinds of people that Martin Brenner had found after his MKUltra experiments, and he would be damned if he was about to let his old rival defeat him at this very last, very important hurdle.

“Let me see the boy.”

There was the distant sound of keyboard clicks and keypad beeps but soon the scientist was entering a sparse white room with a young Billy Hargrove sat on one side, his eyes filled with a hopeful, yet confused, wonder, his hand trying to pick at the small white bandage that rested just behind his ear.

“Good day, Billy, I’m Doctor Lila Soltes and I’m going to be looking after you whilst you’re here. How’re you finding it?”

The young boy took her in as he fidgeted in his seat, clearly excited to find out more whilst also being unsure of what he was supposed to do.

“Momma and Dad said not to talk to strangers,” he mumbled, eyes finally focusing in on her.

“Oh, well, I’m not a stranger, Billy. I know your father, he’s the reason you’re here.”

It was a blatant lie but the easiest in the book to use. All she needed to do was say that she knew which ever family member he mentioned and, with the naivety of youth, he would believe her and happily go along with anything she said.

Should she feel bad about lying to a child? Gaining and manipulating his trust so that he would say yes to the experimentation that she was about to put him through? The greater the end the greater the means. If it had to be done then it would be done.

“... You promise?”

“I promise, Billy.”

“You pinky swear?”

She had to fight off the urge to roll her eyes, instead choosing to pull a grin on her face before she leaned forwards to lock pinkies with the little boy. This was going a lot smoother than some of the kids that had been brought in over the years - the kids who were brought in and had a family who cared. The Doctor almost felt bad for assuming that his dad didn’t care but when a kid had been missing for over twenty four hours and the parent hadn’t called in to report a missing child, it was the only logical conclusion to come to, at least in her opinion.

“We’re going to spend a lot of time together in the next few weeks okay? You’re a special little boy, Billy, just like your momma always told you, and because of that the special kids get a special nickname. Is that okay with you?”

The little boy looked confused, apprehensive even, but rather than question, rather than ask why he was there, he simply nodded. She’d been right in thinking that mentioning his mom would get the boy to agree to anything. He was so easy to read, so easy to predict what he was going to do, say and what he was going to react the strongest to.

“Well, Billy, from now on? We’re going to be calling you Theta.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm finally jumping back into the deep end of the stranger things/harringrove fandom. This chapter has been written for months and everything is sort of planned out so hopefully it'll come out a bit quicker but yeah. Powers!Billy is something that I've been interested in and whilst healing isn't the most original concept, the way I'm having it work is a little different to most so we'll see how it goes.
> 
> As always any and all feedback is appreciated. If you want to chat/send prompts/talk hcs then hmu @ bry-k800 on tumblr! Thanks for reading!


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